San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, on Wednesday August 15, 2012, gets a helping hand as he climbs aboard the Oracle Team USA America's Cup 45 number 5 boat, as the team practices in preparation for the America's Cup World Series races on San Francisco Bay, Calif.

San Francisco will get its first taste of America's Cup racing this week with boats that Mayor Ed Lee pronounced are "as fast as your imagination can take you."

The preliminary races beginning Tuesday on San Francisco Bay will offer a proving ground of sorts not only for the sailors, but also for city officials and race organizers as they prepare to host sailing's premier regatta next summer and fall.

The races - using 45-foot catamarans, smaller than the boats that will race in the America's Cup - are "a trial run," said Supervisor Mark Farrell, whose district includes the Marina neighborhood, which offers perhaps the best view of the action. It will host the spectator village for two preliminary events this year while Piers 27 and 29 are readied for the main event in 2013.

"This is an opportunity to see what's working and what's not working as we get ready to host a much bigger event next year," Farrell said.

If work so far is an indication, some preparations will go down to the wire.

Construction of temporary bleachers and other spectator facilities on the Marina Green for this week's races began Tuesday - at least a day later than planned - and had to be started under a provisional license because the lease agreement between the city and race organizers wasn't completed until late that day, officials said.

Pier 29 repairs

Port leaders are also racing to complete repairs from a fire in June at Pier 29, apparently sparked by a welder working to transform the area into a spectator hub for next year's racing.

The World War I-era arched bulkhead needs to be scrupulously reconstructed to historic standards, and crews also have to remove lead-based paint. The pier is part of a 15-acre triangular slab with Pier 27 at the base of Telegraph Hill that is supposed to house the America's Cup village for almost six months, starting in May.

"We're hoping to be able to get approvals and get going on construction to have the building, if not back to complete perfection, at least habitable in time for the 2013 events," said Monique Moyer, the port's executive director. "We're going to be moving very, very quickly."

City leaders said the effort always included an aggressive schedule. They maintain that preparations are on track both for the exhibition races, including a second round in October during Fleet Week, and for the main contests in 2013, which will feature 72-foot catamarans propelled by wing sails 131 feet high.

"To see the progress being made ... it's incredible the pace it's already gone," Lee said.

Fundraising to defray city costs for the event, while not at the level once promised, has kept pace with spending.

The America's Cup Organizing Committee, a group of philanthropists and city leaders, is trying to raise $32 million in three years to help offset San Francisco's costs for the event.

The committee had vowed to have $12 million in the bank by June 30, the end of the city's fiscal year. It had only $10.7 million in total receipts by that date, but also had $2 million in pledges for the next two years, according to a July 3 memo from Michael Martin, the city's America's Cup project director.

But the city's costs - primarily for environmental review and federal permits - have been substantially less than anticipated so far, largely because of the "consolidation of the event plan," Martin wrote.

Less development

Ellison's group dramatically scaled back the development portion of the deal in February, and documents show city event costs for the just-ended fiscal year were $6.1 million, and might hit $6.5 million. They had been projected to be about $10 million.

The organizing committee paid the city $5.5 million in June to cover its expenses and wasn't billed for the final $585,000 until Aug. 3, city records show.

"The point of fundraising is to cover city costs, and they've done that," Lee spokeswoman Christine Falvey said.

It remains to be seen whether the committee can keep pace when city spending ramps up next year with increased Muni service, police presence and other services associated with handling crowds that Lee predicts will reach 50,000 a day.

Some of the city programs planned for the Louis Vuitton Cup qualifying matches and the America's Cup final won't be used this week. Those include closing part of the Embarcadero to vehicles and having bike rental stations at mass transit hubs.

'Nervousness, excitement'

"I think most people, especially those who live in close proximity to the waterfront, are viewing this with a mix of nervousness and excitement," Farrell said of this week's races.

Camilla Nocerino, a 28-year-old Marina resident who was walking her Labrador puppy Oslo across from where shipping containers with the America's Cup logo were being unloaded at the Marina Green, said she is looking forward to the races.

"It'll be fun," she said. "It's going to be a little bit crazy around here, not a lot of room to walk the dog, so those pieces are a little bit annoying. ... (But) I'm used to that with all of the stuff that happens around here."

Nocerino also noted that some residents are using the Cup as an opportunity to get out of town while padding their bank accounts.

"I know a lot of people are renting out their places for a lot of money," she said, "which I think is great."